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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



J GARDNER 
SOLE' iV'ENl 
SAVANNAH. Ga 



The Life History, Propagation 
and Protection 



AMERICAN OYSTER 



An Essay Read Before the Georgia Historical Society 

by 

DR. A. OEMLER, 

MARCH 4th AND APRIL ist, 1889, 

In the interest of a bill which is to be introduced in 
the Georgia Legislature 

For the Protection and Development of the 
Oyster Industry of Georgia. 



SAVANNAH, GA.: 

THE MOBNING NEWS PKINT. 
1889. 






The Life History, Propagation 
and Protection 



AMERICAN OYSTER 



An Essay Read Before the Georgia Historical Society 



DR. A. OEMLER, 

MARCH 4 th AND APRIL ist, 1889, 
In the interest of a bill which is to be introduced ii 



the Georgia Legislature 



For the Protection and Development of the 
Oyster Industry of Georgia. 




SAVANNAH, GA.: 

the Morning news pkint. 

1889. 



.AaO+ 



Copyright, 18S9, by Dr. A. Oemler. 



After the reading of the essay Capt. Robert Falligant introduced, 
and the society unanimously passed the following resolutions : 

Resolved, That the Georgia Historical Society has heard with 
great interest the very remarkable lecture of Dr. Oemler upon 
oyster culture, and is profoundly impressed with the importance 
of the subject discussed, and the vast amount of information ar- 
rayed by the learned lecturer. 

Resolved, That the Society offer its thanks for the able and in- 
teresting discussion of the subject, and request a copy of the 
lecture for file in the archives, and for such future use, as the 
Society may determine upon. 



K 



THE LIFE HISTORY. PROPAGATION 
AND PROTECTION OF 

THE AMERICAN OYSTER. 



Exclusive of an intervening coast line of nearly one thousand 
miles, between Damariscotta, Me., and the Bay of Chaleur, the 
American oyster is found on the entire eastern shore of the JSTorth 
American continent. It occurs in more or less profusion, covering 
greater or smaller' areas, according to the degree of favorable sur- 
roundings, from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. 
That in former times its habitat was an unbroken line from gulf 
to gulf, is proven by the great heaps of shells near the seaboard, 
the relics of Indian encampments, and large quantities covering 
extensive areas of neighboring sea bottom within the limits of that 
interval. Our own Georgia sea islands bear the same .witness to 
the general use of the oyster as an article of food by the Indians. 
It is always on the seaboard, or eastern side, nearest, therefore, to 
the beds, and on the highest parts of the islands, that we find these 
shells. They lie on the fields so thick as to foi m impediments to 
cultivation, and are so free of soil as to have been burnt into lime 
on Wilmington Island, for several generations, for building pur- 
poses. Pieces of Indian pottery among the shells prove that the 
Indians partook of them as well in the form of stews as on the 
half-shell. 

The American oyster is known to science as Ostrea Virginiana. 
To designate a supposed species in the Gulf of St.* Lawrence the 
name of Ostrea Canadensis, and another in York Bay, that 0. borealis 
were given ; but they are now held to be mere varieties, produced 
by differences of environment. With an abundance of food for 
the animal, and of carbonate of lime in the water for the formation 
of its shell, and room for its full and .free development, its growth 
will be rapid, the shell thick, regular and more round in form. If 
crowded together, as in the case of our raccoon oysters, they 
become long and thin shelled, with very sharp bills, for which 
reason they are also called razor blades. 

Ostrea conchophida is a small species found off the coast of Cali- 
fornia, and Os. lurida a larger and better one in Shoal Water Bay 
of Washington Territory. 

Apparently in order to maintain a conservative equilibrium 
among the number of all animated beings on the earth, the 
Creator, in his all-wise plan of nature, has endowed those of his 
creatures most beset by numerous enemies, or whose life in its 
earliest stages is of most doubtful survival, with a comparatively 
prodigious fecundity. Thus the queen of the white ant lays 60 
eggs in a minute, 80,000 in 24 hours, and 40,000,000 during its 



4 The American Oyster. 

existence of two years in its perfect state. Thus an aphis, or 
plant louse, may be the progenitor of 729,000,000 of descendants 
in five generations, and there may be twenty such generations in 
a single season. Were it not for its numerous predatory enemies, 
every green leaf on the earth would be devoured by aphides. 
destroying vegetable life and causing the death by starvation, first, 
of every herbivorous, and then, necessarily, of every carnivorous 
animal. If every egg evolved from our American oyster survived 
the first stages of its existence, and the surrounding water con- 
tained food enough for the sustenance of the animals, and lime 
enough for the construction of their shells, every full grown speci- 
men might be the parent of 300,000 bushels of oysters. This 
quantity would be equivalent to 373,264 cubic feet of shells, or 
sufficient in the aggregate to block up the mouths of our rivers, 
causing impediments to commerce and inundations of the interior 
country. In general, animals do not procreate their species until 
they have at least nearly attained full growth ; but in the case of 
our American oyster, its survival being so very precarious, nature 
makes an exception in its favor, and ripe products of generation 
are put forth within the first year of its life, and when only three- 
fourths of an inch in size. The wisdom of this comparative fruit- 
fulness is demonstrated in individual species of the oyster itself. 
Thus the European oyster (0s. edulis) is bi-sexual, while our 
American species is uni-sexual, or every individual specimen is 
either a male or a female. The eggs of the former are three 
times as 'large as those of the latter, but average only about 
1,500,000 in number. A microscopic lens of 100 diameters will 
show the egg of the American species to be pear-shaped and ¥ i„ 
inch in size, or 500 in linear contact will be one inch in length. A 
large specimen may contain a cubic inch of eggs, and the cube of 
500 is 125,000,000. A very liberal allowance of one-half for 
absence of actual contact, and for ovarian substance, gives us 
about 60,000,000 of eggs as the product of a single oyster. But 
0s. edulis enjoys the very great advantage over 0s. Virginia na of 
having its ova fertilized within the folds of its own mantle, and of 
its protecting shell ; while those of the latter are evolved as soon 
as mature, and their survival up to an equal starting point with 
the former depends upon a chance fertilization in the open sur- 
rounding water: Carl Mobius, Professor of Zoology, at Kiel, 
Germany, the great authority on the European oyster, has calcu- 
lated that each oyster that is born in Europe has only one chance 
in 1,045,000 of reaching maturity. He calculated that only 44 per 
cent, of the mature European oyster lay eggs each year, nor is the 
quantity of spawn near the same each year, either in Europe or 
America. The causes of this unequal fecundity in different 
seasons are not yet known, but they are supposed to be weather 
influences and differences in the density of the water. Professor 
Mobius says: "To 1,000 human beings we count on 6.26 births, 
and of 1,000 human beings born 554 reach the age of twenty 
or more years. The productiveness of the oyster is, therefore, 
7,000,000 times larger than that of man; but the capacity to 
mature is 579,000 times greater in man than in the oyster." His 
calculations are based upon the fecundity of the European species 
and upon the possibilities of the German beds, situated near the 
islands of Sylt, Anirurn and Fohr, in a latitude six degrees neare 



The American Oyster. 5 

the north pole than any habitat of the American species. What 
ratio of survival we might be able to secure in Georgia, with a 
better climate and fewer enemies, if we bring the intelligence of 
man to the assistance of nature, as the Rhode Island and Con- 
necticut oystermen have done, instead of repressing her efforts by 
the most outrageous and criminal improvidence, is beyond compu- 
tation. 

Fortunately temperature and depth of water are supposed alone 
to affect the time of spawning; at any rate, each bed will be under 
the same influences and, therefore, the products of generation of 
the sexes will be given forth at the same time. 

Within from two to four hours after fertilization a tuft of long 
hairs or cilia appears at the anterior part of the body, by means of 
which these little creatures row themselves up from the bottom 
and swim about activety ; and they now commence to construct the 
shell. During this free swimming stage the valves are symmet- 
rical, but do not quite enclose the animal. It is the second period 
of great danger, for being perfectly defenceless, and sometimes so 
crowded together, a small fish swimming with open mouth might 
easily swallow in a few mouthfuls a number equal to a season's 
survival. The young oysters are also subject to contingencies of 
weather during this stage of existence. Dr. W. K. Brooks, of the 
Johns Hopkins University, (the best American authority on the 
oyster, and the investigator of its life history,) found that a sudden 
cold wind, or a fall in temperature, during his experiments, killed 
every embryo in his care. The number destroyed by cold rains 
and winds must be very great indeed. In addition to its numer- 
ous predatory enemies, the oyster must, itself, be considered more 
or less destructive of its own species ; for Prof. J. A. Ryder reported 
to Prof Baird, in 1883, he had found, besides numerous eggs, 200 
young in the stomach of an adult oyster, which the animal had 
been guilty of swallowing at a single meal. These young oysters 
ranged from ^^ to Y ± v of an inch in size, had their shells already 
developed, and the larger ones had themselves been feeding, inas- 
much as food could be seen in their stomachs. We have no 
means of ascertaining how long a natatory oyster may survive in 
the open water ; but they have been artificially preserved for six 
days. Its chief aim in life now is to find a resting place and a 
home. An indispensible condition of its survival is : that during 
this period it shall find some clean, solid object to which it may 
attach itself. If unsuccessful in its blind quest, it perishes or is 
swept out to sea. Mud is the most formidable enemy of the 
oyster. Even if the water which passes through its gills or lungs 
is muddy, the little creature dies from asphyxia or suffocation. If, 
in its search for the homestead, upon which its life depends, it 
encounters a film of mud of the thickness of a sheet of writing 
paper, its fine soft organs of locomotion being inadequate to free it 
from the engulfing medium, its course is run. A large oyster may 
be deposited upon a muddy bottom and survive, provided, the mud 
be of sufficient consistency to sustain its weight so that its bill may 
reach high enough above the bottom for the animal to draw clean 
water through its gills for the purification of its blood, and into 
its mouth for its support. Having found a clean, solid object, the 
young oyster proceeds to attach itself by its left valve through the 
secretion of shelly matter, and soon loses its symmetrical form. 



6 The American Oyster. 

Henceforth the constantly increasing thickness of shell protects it 
from all enemies, unless they are able either to perforate or to 
crush its armor ; but during the first six months of its existence 
the thin, delicate shells, from T ^ to 1 inch in diameter, are liable 
to be torn off by crabs, sheephead, toad fish, or to be bored by 
drills. The rate of growth depends upon the amount of food and 
carbonate of lime in the surrounding water, upon the season or 
temperature, and upon the density or saltiness of the water, the 
increase in size being more rapid with an admixture of fresh water, 
owing partly to the additional food the latter contains. While 
the oyster is strictly a saltwater mollusc, a certain amount of fresh 
water is not only favorable to its growth, but also improves the 
quality of its flesh. When heavy winds blow in from the sea. 
raising the tides and rendering the water colder and more salty, 
the oysters close their shells and do not feed. 

Shell oysters are classed as Extras, Box and Cullens. In our 
warm latitude they attain the former size in three years on favor- 
able ground ; but in the colder climate of the North not until the 
fourth. The English market demands an oyster the size of a 
silver dollar, and are taken from the class of "Cullens,'* from two 
to three years old, all being eaten raw from the half shell. Up to 
1879, Blue Points, from Great South Ba}>\ Long Island, were 
preferred by English consumers ; but in consequence of a falling 
off in quality, the "Sounds," from Staten Island, and oysters from 
East Biver are now supplying "London stock." The number in 
a barrel varies from 1,200 to 2,000, averaging the shipper about 
$5.00 net; but they have to be carefully and snugly packed with 
their deep shell down in order that the liquor may not escape. 
The total export to England from New York in 1879 amounted to 
$316,500 gold. Old oystermen believe the oyster attains the age 
of twenty years ; but the natural beds along the entire coast are so 
excessively fished that the old, large specimens of former days of 
twelve inches or more are rarely found. 

The oyster is not exempt from all enemies after the first six 
months of its existence. The most formidable one, common to 
the North and South, is the drum fish (Pogonias chromis). By 
means- of large, round molars, with which its phalangeal and 
palatine bones are paved, it is able to crush the hard shells of this 
and other molluscs. Nor does the drum swallow all he crushes, 
seeming to delight in the wanton destruction he causes. That it 
must sometimes be immense may be inferred from the number 
captured by seines. Thus, one haul has been known to land 
12,250 fish, averaging 33 pounds and aggregating 202 tons 250 
pounds. Our common conch and a large ray also crush the shell, 
while the whelk (Cycotyphus carialiculatus) and. the drill ( Urosalpinx 
cinerea) perforate it by means of their file-like tongue. The star 
fish is so formidable an enemy that legislatures and town corpora- 
tions have been asked to offer rewards for its capture, and an 
English law exacts a fine from any fisherman who fails to destroy 
the animal. They are sometimes so plentiful that it is no uncom- 
mon occurrence for an oysterman to dredge up 75 bushels in a day 
in the eastern part of Long Island Sound. In 1878, after some 
rough and gloomy weather, an oyster planter forked up 2,500 by 
actual count with an eel spear, at Pocasset, Massachusetts, Avithin 
two days, in water from three to five feet deep. Ernest Ingersoll 



The American Oyster. 7 

saw a pile of dead star fish, at Warren, E. L, of 1,000 bushels, 
representing 600,000 of the animals. A single inroad of star fish 
upon Providence River cost the planters $150,000. Northern 
oysterinen were formerly in the habit of tying them up in bundles, 
of cutting them to pieces and of casting the severed parts back into 
the sea. But, as these star fish, with several other species of 
Asteridce, are capable of propagation by division, they were simply 
multiplying, instead of destroying, their enemies. Having found 
a mollusc upon which he intends to operate, he pursues a unique 
mode of -burglary. Folding his five rays round it in a firm grasp, 
the robber proceeds to break in by cracking off the "nib" or 
"bill," piece by piece, until he has made a sufficient opening, 
when he protrudes the distensible mouth of his stomach, the whole 
of the latter following, into the shell. If the mollusc is a large 
one, he draws the pouches, which are packed away in the rays, to 
his aid, until the animal has turned itself completely inside out. 
Specimens are frequently dredged up in this condition. In their 
turn, many of the star fish embryos find their way into the 
stomachs of clams and oysters. Prof. Alex. Agassiz estimates the 
star fish reaches its full growth in fourteen years, and, fortunately 
for oysters, does not spawn before its sixth or seventh year. 

Our raccoon oysters owe their name to the fancied resemblance 
in shape to the tongue of that animal and not to any supposed use 
he makes of them as food. In fact, oysters are in no danger of 
extermination from the rapacity of any quadruped ; the danger 
that menaces them is the covetousness of bipeds. 

A very interesting feature in the life history of the oyster is 
the little oyster crab (Pinnotheres ostreum). Being neither capable 
of defense nor escape, it may readily be understood what an 
easy prey the little creature would be to every fish, without its 
harbor of refuge within the shell of the oyster, which it can leave 
at will. As a matter of fact, the male is very rarety found. What 
a most wonderful provision of nature for the purpose of securing 
its continued existence, to endow the female (for she alone inhabits 
the oyster) with the instinct to avail herself of this sanctuary ! 
She is a true messmate and not a parasite, as might be supposed. 
In fact, as it were from gratitude for the protection afforded, she 
becomes a caterer for the oyster, the minute scraps which fall 
from her tiny claws serving as food for the mollusc. 

Upon an examination of the valves, or the two shells of an 
oyster, one is seen to be more concave than the other. The for- 
mer is the left, the latter the right valve. Near the centre of each 
is a light brown or purple spot, more rough than the common sur- 
face. These spots were the points of attachment of the strong 
abductor muscle, which passes through the animal from side to 
side and must either be detached or cut before the oyster can be 
opened, its functions being to keep the shell closed. With us this 
muscle is commonly called the heart; at the North the eye of 
the oyster. In point of fact, the oyster has no eye. If the 
animal wishes to open its bill, the muscle relaxes and the valves 
are forced open by the distending elasticity of the hinge ligament, 
which is compressed while the valves are closed. 

Very briefly stated, the general anatomy of the oyster is the fol- 
lowing : Except near the ligament, the entire body is enclosed in 
two flaps, the mantle, from the outer surface of which the sub- 



8 The American Oyster. 

stance is secreted to form the shell. The inner edges of the 
mouth are provided with a double row of tentacles, while beneath 
it are four very finely ridged folds, which form the gills or breath- 
ing apparatus of the animal. These gill-folds or plates extend 
near the hinge, or anterior part of the oyster, where they are sup- 
erceded by four other folds, the lips, and here is the opening lead- 
ing into the body, or the mouth of the mollusc. All the food the 
oyster gets has to be brought from the open bill to this part of the 
animal, and this is effected by the cilia, with which the gill plates 
are supplied, too small to be seen by the naked eye. These all 
lash the water in one direction, creating a steady current over the 
gills, and whatever food the water contains passes in to the mouth 
cavity. Just anterior to the dark spot near the centre of the 
oyster, which is the abductor muscle, we find the heart, enclosed 
in the pericardium and consisting of two auricles and one ven- 
tricle. The stomach is an irregular cavity of considerable size, 
surrounded by the lobules of the liver, from which ducts lead into 
it. The ready digestibility of raw oysters, which renders them so 
well adapted to convalescents and dyspeptics, is attributable to 
the liver and its secretions. Folds of the intestines lead back and 
forth, ending near the abductor muscle. 

Through microscopic examinations of the contents of the 
stomach, the food of the oj^ster has been ascertained to consist 
chiefly of diatoms, minute free swimming vegetable organisms en- 
closed in silicious cases, most genera of which are contained in 
salt water. Several additional species and similar microscopic 
plants called desmids, however, are contained in fresh water. 
About 88 per cent, of the food consists of these and fragments of 
other algce, and 12 per cent, of the embryos of molluscs and of other 
low forms of animal life. The flavor and color of oysters depend 
upon the diatomaceous flora of the water from which they derive 
their food. 

A sudden and marked change in the weather will not only re- 
tard or check the spawning of the oyster, but also affects its 
quality. The free floating diatomaceous food of the_ oyster, like 
all other vegetable organisms, is attracted by the light of the sun 
and, therefore, rises to the surface, beyond the reach of the bivalve 
in clear, dry weather ; hence in cloudy or rainy weather, the sur- 
rounding water being more nutritive, oysters improve in quality. 

When taken from water of great density, or which is very 
salty, oysters remain poor until very late in the season. If re- 
moved, however, into water more fresh than that in which they 
were born, they lose a portion of their salinity and also actually a 
very slight part of nutritive ingredients by dyalysis, or osmose, 
and absorb the fresher water. Oystermen avail themselves of this 
process in fattening, floating, plumping or drinking their oysters, 
as it is variously designated. They become improved in taste and 
in plump appearance ; but, as a matter of fact, are merely bloated 
into a similitude of fatness. If the water is warm, a single tide 
may suffice. At Franklin City, Md., one planter actually resorts 
to warming the water during cold weather to from 60° to 65° by 
steam pipes under his plumping floats. 



The American Oyster. 9 

PROPAGATION. 

The yield of oysters from the growth of natural beds having be- 
come inadequate, three methods of increasing the supply have been 
adopted successfully in Europe and America, Oyster planting, 
oyster farming and the artificial fertilization of the eggs with the 
rearing of the young oysters in specially prepared ponds connect- 
ing with the sea. The first merely enlarges the quantity and im- 
proves quality by accelerating growth, while the two latter actually 
increase the supply by augmenting production. 

As long ago as early in the seventh century, a Roman Knight, 
Sergius Orata, undertook oyster farming and the planting of 
oysters, obtained elsewhere from natural beds, in Lake Lucrin ; 
and Pliny informs us that he became very rich. 

The first attempt at planting oysters in this country seems to 
have been made in old Shrewsbury township, N. J., about seventy- 
five years ago, and the next occurred in Harlem River, with seed 
oysters procured from City Island, East River, N. Y. Formerly, 
large quantities of Chesapeake oysters were planted in northern 
waters, 2,178,750 bushels having been shipped in 1879 for that 
purpose. The New Haven fleet alone, employed in tbat year in 
that transport, consisted of eighteen schooners. Since that recent 
day, the intelligence of Connecticut oystermen has made her not 
only independent, but she now exports large quantities of seed 
oysters to other states. This transfer of southern oysters to north- 
ern bottoms might have been made more profitable, if they could 
have been put down in June instead of very early in the spring; 
and this could have been possible by the employment of steam, 
but for the very peculiar fact: that any concussion while in bulk 
between decks is destructive to these molluscs, and that they 
would have been affected by the throb of the engine. Even the 
chopping of wood on deck was prohibited on board the schooners. 
Heavy thunderstorms and the firing of guns have been known to 
destroy them. 

The first requisite of successful oyster culture is a proper bottom. 
Neither soft mud nor pure sand will answer; but a mixture of the 
two, covered with a layer of shells, forms the best planting ground. 
To prepare a bottom otherwise too soft, Connecticut oyster 
planters sometimes use 200 tons of sand to the acre, but a current 
is essential to success. The improvement of oysters, when trans- 
ferred from their natural beds to planting ground, is not always 
and necessarily owing to any amelioration in their surroundings, 
or to a larger relative amount of food contained in the water ; but, 
probably, to the more regular distribution, whereby a larger 
quantity of nutriment may reach each animal. It is also attribu- 
table to the more uniform size and age of the planted stock; for a 
large number of small oysters attached to the larger will impede 
development and prevent the fattening of the latter. For seed in 
Eastern waters, oysters one, two and three years old are used, 
according to the time the planter intends them to remain on the 
bottom and the trade for which they are designed. When put 
down at one year old, they will be fit for opening at three ; and 
one-third of them will class as "box" and two-thirds as "cullens." 
Twelve bushels planted on about thirty feet square will take up, 
if left for four years, at the rate of seventy-five bushels, when they 



10 The American Oyster. 

will be three to four inches long ; and a bushel will hold from 150 
to 200. From 600 to 1,000 bushels are planted to the acre. About 
half a million bushels of Chesapeake oysters were planted in the 
waters of Delaware in 1879, at a cost to the planter of less than 
25 cents a bushel; and taken up after four months, they sold for 
over 80 cents per bushel, which may be considered a loss to Main- 
land of $275,000. The profits of a single Fair Haven firm between 
1852 and 1856 was .$25,000 per annum. About 1876, an oyster 
planter netted 1.000 per cent, on his outlay on oysters put down 
two years before. 

In general, transplanting young oysters in water fresher than 
that wherein the}^ were born will promote rapid growth. At 
Jamaica and in Hemstead Bay, Long Island, the water being 
shallow and warm, with an influx of fresh water, the planters 
take up oysters for market in the fall which had been put down 
in the spring, with a certainty that they will have attained at least 
double their size. Were it otherwise, the shallower portions of 
this exceptionally fine planting ground would be useless, in conse- 
quence of the destruction of the oysters by ice in winter. 

Because of the high rate of freight (about $10 per barrel) across 
the continent, those shipped from the East to be planted as seed 
in the Pacific are very small, some being mere blisters, a barrel 
holding from 3,000 to 5,000. For this purpose, oysters from New- 
ark Bay and the North River are preferred, as they seem to stand 
the journey better. 

When the supply of oysters imported for immediate consump- 
tion exceeds the demand, the surplus is bedded, both in England 
and California, proving the facility with which they may be trans- 
ported long distances and the hardiness of the animal. But a 
curious fact is that such oysters placed in the Pacific will not 
survive more than six months, nor will the species removed from 
the Atlantic spawn in the Pacific. That they may become inured 
to cold by exposure is demonstrated by the fact that our raccoon 
oyster will survive a lower degree than single oysters from beneath 
low-water mark. Professor Lockwood describes the systematic 
practice by which oysters were formerly trained to hardihood as 
follows : 

"Before the railroad days, our oyster growers used early in the 
fall to canvass the villages on the Hudson River for orders, to be 
filled just before the river should be closed by ice. The meaning 
of this is, that these men committed themselves to supply oysters 
in the shell, with the guarantee that the bivalves thus supplied 
should not die before their time came. The oysters were actually 
kept alive during the greater part of the long winter. The fat 
bivalves were handled with some care, and were spread on the 
cellar floor, the round or lower side down, so as not to allow the 
liquor to escape. 

■' That such a life required a great change of capacity or habit 
in the bivalves is evident, and it needed a training, yes, an educa- 
tion, ere the oyster attained to such ability. 

" And this is the way it was done : Beginning early in the fall, 
the cultivator of the oyster took up the fat bivalves from their 
bed, where he had planted them, and laid them a little higher up 
on the shore, so that for a short time each day they were exposed 
out of the water. After a few days of this exposure by the re- 



The American Oyster. 11 

treating tide, they were moved a little higher still on the shore 
line, which gave them a little longer exposure to the air at each 
low tide. And this process was continued, each remove resulting 
in a longer exposure. And with what results ? Two very curious 
ones : Inurement to exposure and the inculcation of a provident 
habit of making preparations for the same. What! providence in 
an oyster ? Yes, when he's educated. When accustomed to this 
toeatinent, ere the tide retires, the oyster takes a^good, hard drink 
and retains the same until the tide returns. Once, while waiting 
for tlie stage at a country hostelry, we overheard the following be- 
tween two rustic practitioners at the bar: 'Come, Swill, let's take 
a drink.' 'Well, I don't know. Ain't dry myself. Hows'ever, 
guess I will take a drink, for fear I might get dry.' With better 
philosophy on their side, these educated oysters, twice in twenty- 
four hours, took their precautionary drink." 

" The French method of oyster training is much more laborious. 
The adult bivalves are carefully spread out in the water and per- 
iodical lessons are given to each one individually. Each 03 7 ster, 
on this occasion, receives a tap with a small iron instrument. 
This causes the bivalves to close tightly. Finally the last day 
comes with its last premonitary tap. Its education thus finished, 
it takes passage with its fellow-graduates for Paris. As a result of 
its education, it knows how to keep its mouth shut when it enters 
society." 

* " The history of the oyster industry of Rhode Island furnishes 
an interesting illustration of the value of an intelligent system of 
planting." 

il A\\ bottoms between high-water mark and the ship channel 
are public property, to be controlled and administered by the State 
in such a way as to secure the greatest good to the greatest num- 
ber of its citizens. 

" In 1865 laws were passed allowing the leasing to private citizens 
for a term of years at an annual rental of $10 per acre, of any bot- 
toms which are covered by water at low tide and are not within 
any harbor line, to be used as a private oyster fishery, for the 
planting and cultivation of oysters, whether these lands contain 
natural beds or not, and efficient laws were enacted for the pro- 
tection of private rights. 

'•' The effect of this measure has been good in every respect. The 
revenue of the State has been greatly increased; and it is stated 
that the rentals of the beds will, in time, pay all the expenses of 
the State government. 

"The price of oysters has decreased, and the supply has become 
so abundant that only one-tenth is needed for the home market, 
and nine-tenths of the annual supply are sold outside the State. 

"In 1865 oysters sold for $1.75 per solid gallon; in 1878 the 
price was $1.15 to $1.10, and in 1879 it had fallen to 90 cents. 

"In 1865 the product of the State was 71,894 bushels, while in 
1879 it was 660,500 bushels. The area which was used for plant- 
ing in 1879 was only 962 acres, yet this area paid $6,582.90 into the 
State Treasury; it employed a capital of over $1,000,000; it paid 
$125,000 in wages to the people of the State; it furnished the 
market with 660,500 bushels of oysters, with $680,500 to the pro- 
ducers, and it gave support to 2,400 persons. 

*Report of the Oyster Commission of the State of Maryland, 1884. 



12 The American Oyster. 

"In 1857, the revenue from oyster rents was only $30 In 1862, 
there were collected $82; 1863, $60; 1864, $61. Then came the 
present law, with private rights and private planting, and the net 
proceeds of oyster rents to the State, at once advanced as follows : 
1865, $737.72; 1866, $601.27; 1867, $1,568.50; 1868, $1,814.40; 
1869, $1,949.15; 1870, $1,527.65; 1871, $2,186.63; 1872, $2,772.95; 
1873, $4,483.88; 1874, $4 997.05; 1875, $5,276.00; 1876, $5,300.00 : 
1877, $6,045.25; 1878, $6,582.90." 

In fourteen years, it had increased to $6,582 — 107 fold, or 10,790 
per cent. 

"It is, moreover, an admitted fact that assignments of oyster 
ground were continually taking place in 1879 at a bonus of from 
$75 to $200 an acre." 

"Up to 1883, the Rhode Island grounds had been used only for. 
planting, and most of the seed oysters were purchased from other 
States; yet the planted oysters sold for three or four times the 
cost of the seed; and it is doubtful whether there is any farming 
land in the United States which yielded as great a profit as the 
1,100 acres which had been used that year for oyster planting in 
Rhode Island." 

The Oyster Commissioners of Maryland calculated, in their 
report for 1884, that, if all the area of their State which is proper for 
oyster planting were used in this waj", and were no more profitable 
than the oyster grounds of Rhode Island, it would yield to the 
planters the inconceivable sum of two thousand millions of dollars. 
All this, notwithstanding the natural beds of Rhode Island had 
been so depleted by excessive tonging that they were of little 
value, only being able to supply less than one-eighth the seed used 
for planting. But, fortunately for the oyster industry of Rhode 
Island, her legislators were wise enough to enact a law which has 
encouraged private effort, enormously increased the supply of 
cheaper food, and reduced taxation. 



OYSTER FARMING. 

It has been shown that oyster planting has been successful; ' but 
oyster farming is capable of being made much more profitable. If 
a dollar saved is a dollar made, then the oj^ster farmer may not 
only be considered the grower, but the quasi creator of his crop. 
Grain uncommitted to the soil is not wasted, for it may be made 
into bread ; but if the oyster farmer fails to assist nature, the seed 
of the oyster that might yield a bountiful harvest perishes and is 
lost to the world. I submit a bunch of oysters, which probably 
would not have been in existence, if my son had not deposited the 
shell a year ago upon which they have affixed themselves. 

The principal operation then of oyster farming consists in sup- 
plying that sine qua non of the young oyster's survival: clean, solid 
objects, called " cultch " or spat collectors, for their attachment. 

The methods invented by Sergius Orata in the time of Augustus 
have been followed for centuries by oyster farmers at Lake 
Fusaro, near Cape Misene, in Italy, where bundles of twigs have 
been found invariably efficacious as spat collectors. 

The natural beds in France were giving out in 1858, when M. 
Coste made elaborate and costly experiments in oyster culture in 



The American Oyster. 13 

the Bay of St. Brieuc in the Department Cotes du Nord, opposite 
the English Channel Island of Jersey, under authority of Napoleon 
III and at the expense of the Imperial Government. Owing to 
several unforeseen contingencies, as, for instance, a disastrous 
storm, which demolished his arrangements and destroyed a por- 
tion of his adult oysters, he failed to realize the splendid results he 
anticipated. He fully demonstrated, however, the practicability 
of his methods, when he forwarded a bundle of fagots to the Em- 
peror, not occupying any more space in the water than a sheaf of 
wheat, upon which no less than 20,000 young oysters had at- 
tached themselves. Soon afterwards two government farms of 
about 500 acres each, of exhausted territory, were established; and 
in 1863 16,000,000 of oysters were taken in six tides from one-half 
the area. Land was then ceded to individuals, and one area of 
492 acres was stocked in a few years with oysters valued at 
$8,000,000. Five years previously this was unproductive ter- 
ritory. Since then the French have been very successful. At 
Arcachon the number of oyster parks increased from 724 in 1871 
to 1,706 in 1874. The following table from the report of M. 
Brocchi to the Minister of Marine shows the increase in ten years 
in the basin of Arcachon alone : 

Number of Oysters 
Year. Exported. Value in Francs. 

1871 4,897,500 268,332.50 

1872 10,796,740 537,515.00 

1873 25,711,750 1,159,397.00 

1874 42,542,650 1,745,050.00 

1875 112,715,233 2,817,630.00 

1876 196,885,450 3,941,309.00 

1877 202,392,225 4,456,288.00 

1878 176,500,225 4,426,500.63 

1879 160,197,275 3,944,241.88 

1880 195,477,357 4,254,465.64 

This is an increase in ten years of 1,585 per cent, in the value 
of oysters, while the people had an accession of 3,890 per cent, in 
the number of oysters consumed. The French method consists 
substantially in suspending concavo-convex tile in the water dur- 
ing the spawning season, with the former surface down. These 
are about 18 inches to 2 feet long and 6 to 8 inches wide, like a 
drain tile cut longitudinally in two. To facilitate the removal of 
the oysters with a knife without breaking the tile, so that they 
may be used the next season, they receive two coatings of lime, or 
one of cement and one of lime. The young oysters seem to at- 
tach themselves in rising for they are nearly always on the con- 
cave side. Lieut. Winslow suspended tile of this description in 
the Big Anemessex Biver and counted 348 young oysters on a 
single one. 

The first attempt at oyster farming in the United States was 
made at City Island, Westchester County, 1ST. Y., about fifty years 

ago by Fordham; and the East River is at present the 

scene of the most careful and scientific system of oyster culture in 
this country. H. C. Bowe, of New Haven, who controlled 1,500 
acres in 1883 in Long Island Sound, was the first to venture oyster 



14 The American Oyster. 

farming at a depth of forty feet. At such, a distance from the sur- 
face the oysters are not apt to be distured by the turmoil of storms. 

AVhen the East River oystermen first attempted to become 
auxilliaries of nature by providing solid objects, for the attach- 
ment of the young oysters, they scattered oyster shells over the 
bottom, ignorant of the fact that they had to be clean. They put 
them down so far in advance of the spawning season that they 
got no set, because the shells had become muddy. Learning wis- 
dom by experience they now resort to shelling during the spawn- 
ing season, the most propitious time being from July 5th to July 
15th for Connecticut, with such success that they export their ';eed 
oysters not only to neighboring States, but abroad and to Califor- 
nia, whereas only a few years ago they were compelled to import 
all their seed oysters from the Chesapeake, 515,000 bushels being 
the quantity in 1879. One firm put down 250,000 bushels of shells 
in 1883, and another shipped sixty car-loads with 15,000,000 of 
seed oysters, five years ago, to be planted in the Pacific. The 
oystermen were well aware of the fact that there could be no sur- 
vival of young oysters unless they provided them with sometbing 
to fasten to, even if the waters were loaded with spawn. 

A few years, ago it was accepted by oyster culturists as a truism 
that masses of spat drifted back and forth with every tide any- 
where within a mile or two of a natural oyster bed, and all that 
was requisite was to place something on the bottom to catch a 
full set. We have seen how sensitive to injury Dr. Brooks 
proved the young oyster to be, and within from twenty-four to 
forty-eight hours after fertilization it should have become attached. 
Later experience has demonstrated the advisability of placiug the 
spat collectors within twenty rods of a natural bed containing a 
sufficienc}^ of mature oysters. The more reliable method, and 
that adopted by all the progressive oyster farmers, is to distribute 
on the previously prepared bottom twenty-five bushels of adult 
oysters, or " spawners," as evenly as possible to the acre; and then 
later, and exactly at the proper time, to scatter from 250 to 500 
bushels of shells or pebbles upon the same area. A set having oc- 
curred, the oysters may be left undisturbed, unless infested by 
enemies, until wanted for seed or consumption; but, if a plentiful 
one, the bottom should be worked over with a wide meshed 
dredge to bring up only the larger bunches, which are then 
broken apart and bedded, as every oyster farmer reserves an allot- 
ment of his ground for planting, or to be sold as seed oysters. 

On the best ground 500 bushels of shells are scattered upon an 
acre, and in exceptional cases as many as five bushels of oysters 
have been gathered from one of shells; but as a rule the oyster 
farmers of Connecticut consider one bushel procured of the former 
from one of the latter a fair return. 

When large shells are used as spat collectors, their surfaces are 
frequently so thickly covered with young oysters that they become 
crowded and acquire an objectionable shape. To avoid this pos- 
sibility, some of the Connecticut oyster farmers now use pebbles 
instead of shells. When the bottom is too soft for spat collectors 
to be placed immediately upon it, upright bushes may be inserted 
in the mud. On the Paquonock Elver, near Groton, Conn., a 
bush four inches in diameter at the but had collected twenty-five 
bushels, seven of which at eighteen months were large enough for 
market. 



The American Oyster. 15 

Private oyster fanning under the wise laws of Connecticut had 
only been practiced three years, when a writer in the New Haven 
Palladium wrote as follows : " Fifty thousand acres of entirely 
barren ground, covered 30, 40 and 50 feet deep by the waters of 
Long Island Sound have been made into productive oyster beds 
and have multiplied by a hundred fold the production of native 
oysters. Ten years ago, tens of thousands of bushels of oysters 
were imported from New York, New Jersey and Ehode Island, 
and now hundreds of thousands of bushels are yearly exported to 
these States and to Massachusetts. Millions of dollars are now 
invested in the industry, thousands of men and women are em- 
ployed, millions of bushels are in growing crops and hundreds of 
thousands of dollars yearly come into the State as proceeds of ex- 
ported oysters. The oyster cultivators have paid more than 
$50,000 to the towns and to the State for ground to cultivate, and 
pay a yearly tax to a large amount." 

Connecticut sells as much of her off shore territory in fee simple 
to any male resident as he can cultivate at $1.10 per acre and it 
is subsequently assessed for taxes the same as upland, $40 per 
acre being the highest valuation by the State. The taxes of 
1886-87 amounted to $7,087.75. To secure, survey, prepare and 
shell these grounds in deep water costs about $40 per acre and it 
is not deemed profitable for any one to take up less than fifty 
acres. The eighth report of the Shell Fish Commissioners of Con- 
necticut shows that up to October 31, 1888, the total area granted 
and now held by cultivators is 78,167.56 acres. The number of 
steamers owned by the oyster farmers of the State is 66, one of 
them having the carrying capacity of 4,500 bushels. I quote from 
the above report : " One Connecticut firm last year shipped 
10,000 barrels of seed oysters to Liverpool and London for plant- 
ing on English beds — and they expect to ship a larger quantity 
the coming year. The foreign trade, however, does not compare 
with the domestic trade. This is continually expanding wherever 
facilities of transportation open the way." 

*Prof. J. A. .Ryder, of the United States Fish Commission, men- 
tioned in 1883 that a younger brother of the firm of Smith Bros., 
of New Haven, had put his mite of $500 into the work and that 
he had the year following declined the offer of $3,000 in hard cash 
by the firm for his venture, with thanks. My inquiry about the 
sequel to this transaction results in the information that it netted 
$3,000 after the second year, and $2,000 more from the sale of the 
remaining large oysters at the end of the third, or $5,000 in three 
years, which is 1,000 per cent, for the period from the capital in- 
vested. The shells had been placed upon the area owned by 
another, and the latter had received one-half as his share of the 
profits, or $2,500 for the use or rent of the ground, which a few 
years before was considered worthless and had never previously 
produced a mouthful of food, but the bottom was, of course, of ex- 
ceptional quality for the purpose, and the crop had fortunately 
escaped the ravages of starfish. 

The highest price paid at private sale for oyster ground in Con- 
necticut, as far as I have been able to learn, was $300 per acre. 
The State of New York sells her off shore unoccupied land at any 

*Rearing Oysters from Artificially Fertilized Eggs, together with Notes on Pond 
Culture.— United Suites Fish Commission, 1S 5 8. 



16 The Americas' Oyster. 

figure over $1 per acre. So far it has gone for about 81.25, and in 
the bays at from $3 to $5. The highest bid for bare land, owned 
by the State, was $20 per acre. As a private transaction $300 has 
has been paid for absolutely bare ground, and for bottom which 
had more or less material upon it, but sold as cleared ground, 
sales have been made of single acres of this submerged land at 
$500. An expert oyster culturist from Cit} T Island, N. Y., now 
present in the audience, assures me he has recently worked on 
o}^ster ground in Long Island Sound still more valuable. 

Such are the astonishing capabilities of oyster farming. Here 
are thousands of acres, heretofore utterly barren, thrown open by 
wise legislation to private enterprise, becoming productive to the 
wonderful extent of 2,500 bushels of food material to the acre, and 
enhanced in value in three years from total worthlcssness to $500 
per acre. 



ARTIFICIAL IMPREGNATION. 

In reference to the very interesting subject of artificial impreg- 
nation of the spawn and the rearing of the young oysters in ponds 
connecting with the sea, I can merely mention that it has been 
accomplished in Europe and in America. Financially it has been 
a success in France alone, nor are oysters yet scarce enough in 
our waters to warrant the trouble of artificial fertilization and the 
expense of excavating the breeding ponds. An idea of French 
achievement may be formed from the fact that 800 young have 
been counted on one-fifth, and 2,000 on a whole tile of oysters, thus 
born in breeding pans and committed to the ponds for attachment. 



PROTECTION. 

Five years ago, the Legislature of Maryland made an appropria- 
tion from her oyster fund of $80,000 to build two fast guard 
steamers, and the fleet now consists of these and thirteen schooners 
and sloops. In salaries alone to her oyster police force she pays 
$50,000 annually, and her protected oyster industry supports 
55,000 people. That of every coast State, from Virginia to Massa- 
chusetts, maintains thousands of families, supplies in the aggregate 
cheap food to millions of inhabitants, benefits every transportation 
company from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and. bringing an influx 
of money into each, promotes the general welfare. 

There can certainly be no reason why our Empire State should 
not be placed in the same category of progress, or why her o} r ster- 
men should not be permitted to apply their intelligence to the 
advancement of her prosperity. 

Having shown the economic importance of the oyster industry 
elsewhere, I shall submit to you valid reasons for its protection in 
Georgia. 

As my sons have been engaged in the business of shipping 
oysters for years, and, as I am living nearer to what, only a few 
years ago, were the best and most extensive oyster grounds in our 
waters, I have been better situated to note the rapid depletion of 



The American Oyster. 17 

the beds and the outrageously improvident manner of fishing them 
than any man in Georgia. Knowing, therefore, perhaps better 
than any other, that without the a^gis of legislative protection the 
oyster industry of the State is doomed, I felt longer inaction on 
my part would partake of dereliction of duty. 

As a delegate from Chatham County to the Agricultural Con- 
vention at Marietta in 1883, I first met Dr. H. H. Carey, the 
Fish Commissioner of Georgia. He then consulted me in regard 
to the necessity of protecting and encouraging the oyster interests 
of the State, and has done so frequently since, notably, during a 
visit to my home on Wilmington Island about eighteen months 
ago. Prompted thus by my- own sense of duty, by Dr. Carey's 
wishes, and by my desire to increase the supply, I have carefully 
investigated the subject, during the last six j^ears, in order that I 
might qualify myself to prepare a bill appropriate to our circum- 
stances. I am confident, if the bill I have framed becomes the 
law, it will promote the general welfare by increasing the supply 
of cheap food, by benefiting the entire trade, by advancing the 
prosperity of the 400 men and women who tong and open oysters 
in Chatham County alone, and by bringing money into the State. 

It has, however, been recently amended. Sincft the adjourn- 
ment of the Legislature I have renewed my acquaintance of forty 
years ago with the delegate from Glynn County, to whom I had been 
advised to send it for introduction. Ha is now in fall accord with 
me, and will introduce and support the bill to the best of his ability. 
As I have been instrumental, though indirectly, in placing Mr. 
Postell in a position where he has been misrepresented, in justice 
to him I will take this occasion to state the reasons he declined to 
introduce it were : (1) The bill having originated in Chatham he 
felt suspicious because neither of her delegates seemed inclined to 
assume the responsibility, and (2) he desired to ascertain whether 
his constituents would approve the measure. This he has now 
done, but in order to meet the views of the people of the lower 
counties, where the beds are still productive and valuable, I have 
agreed to several alterations and a new clause, neither of which, 
however, interfere with the chief objects of my original bill. 

As amended, briefly stated, it is as follows : 

Section 1. It shall not be lawful to pick or gather oysters with 
any implement from beds opposite the marshes of this State from 
April 15th to September 1st, nor from one hour after sunset of 
Saturday to one hour before sunrise of the succeeding Monday, 
nor during any night, except at the knoll in Savannah River. 

Sec 2. All culling shall be done over the beds, except on the 
knoll at the mouth of Savannah River. 

Sec 3. It shall not be lawful to gather planted oysters without 
the consent of the owner. 

Sec 4. When a creek, not over 130 feet wide at its mouth, runs 
up into the land, all the oysters therein shall belong to the owner 
or owners of the land, as if they had been bedded. 

Sec 5. It shall not be lawful to use any other implement than 
oyster tongs, except in water over twenty feet deep or more, at 
low water, and with the approval of the Oyster Inspector. 

Sec 6. The penalties for violating the above sections to be a fine 
from $25 to $200, or confinement ia jail from three months to two 
years. 



18 The American Oyster. 

Sec. 7. The County Commissioners shall appoint three expert 
appraisers, of which the Oyster Inspector shall be one, except 
when he is himself an applicant, to examine any ground applied 
for and to place an estimate upon it, opposite any of the public 
marshes of this State, and upon their report the County Com- 
missioners shall lease five acres for a term of ten years to any male 
resident of full age; but the latter shall plant 100 bushels of oysters 
or scatter 100 bushels of shells to every 100 yards of planting- 
ground, and he shall keep it staked and marked. 

Sec 8. (Incorporated by Messrs. Goodyear & Kay, of Bruns- 
wick, for Glynn County and stated in full.) 

That any person or corporation owning lands fronting on tide 
waters of this State shall have the exclusive right to the oyster 
privilege fronting the land aforesaid to the distance of 120 feet be- 
low low water mark and the right to lease or sell such oyster 
privilege upon placing boards along such front, as provided in 
Section 7 of this Act ; and shall be entitled to all the protection 
afforded by this Act to parties leasing such privilege on public 
lands of this State. 

Sec 9. Provides for a license on boats 18 feet or less of S3: on 
boats over 18 feet $5; and on sailing vessels of $1 for every ton of 
capacity; but every such vessel is entitled to a boat for every five 
tons without a license. 

Sec 10. Every licensed boat or vessel shall have the number 
plainly painted on the starboard gunwale. 

Sec 11. The penalty for using a boat, &c, not licensed, not less 
than $50 nor more than $200, or confinement in jail, not less than 
six months nor more than one year. 

Sec 12. Provides for the manner of procedure in case of viola- 
lations of this Act. 

Sec 13. The oyster inspectors and constables shall have 
authority to arrest any one found in the act of violating this Act. 

Sec 14. The penalty for resisting an officer making arrest from 
$50 to $100, or confinement not less than six months nor more 
than two years. 

Sec 15. The coast of Georgia to be divided into two oyster 
districts: the counties of Chatham, Bryan and Liberty forming the 
first, and the counties of Mcintosh, Glynn and Camden the 
second. 

Sec 16. An oyster inspector for each district to be appointed by 
the Governor from the district where he is to serve. 

Sec 17. When the fund accruing from rents, licenses, &c, 
exceeds $1,250, the excess to be appropriated to the school fund of 
the county in which they had been collected. 

Sec 18. It shall be the duty of the inspectors to guard their 
respective districts, to arrest violators of the law, to keep a record 
of licenses, and to report quarterly. 

Sec 19. Penalty for removing or defacing oyster marks, from 
$20 to $100, or confinement from one to six months. 

Sec 20. The Act shall go into effect on September 1st, next 
ensuing after its passage. 

Sec 21. Repeals all laws in conflict with this Act. 

Knowing such a law would inure to their benefit, and antici- 
pating, therefore, their cordial cooperation, I requested the princi- 
pal dealers to meet me in conference with the members of the 



The American Oyster. 19 

Legislature, in hopes of taking harmonious action; and I visited 
the city three times expressly for that purpose. The bill had 
been previously submitted to them for inspection, and on one oc- 
casion a single one presented himself. Immediately after these 
abortive conferences, an excitement and opposition was aroused 
among the oysternien at Thunderbolt by misrepresentations that 
my bill contained a property qualification for all oystering of 
$20,000, during which subscriptions were solicited to a fund for 
defeating the bill, and threats of personal violence against myself 
were made in case the bill became the law. 

In corroboration of all the former facts I have 'an affidavit of 
three intelligent oystermen from City Island, Westchester County, 
JST. Y., the birthplace and present theatre of the most systematic 
and scientific oyster culture in the United States, who were oyster- 
ing at Thunderbolt and who actively participated in it, but who 
after an examination of the bill cordially approve it. One of them 
assures me, when it becomes the law, he will remove to Georgia in 
order to enjoy its privileges, because he is satisfied he could then 
make more money here from oyster culture than in the State of 
New York. In fact, in order to lose no time, he had bargained 
with a resident to plant oysters before his departure in the spring 
in copartnership on the leased ground of the latter, if the bill had 
passed. 

Its opponents have asserted that the oysters on our coast are in 
no need of protection, inasmuch as the beds are not being ex- 
hausted, and that thousands of them are being formed every year. 
Every oysterman knows this is false; but as their prospective ex- 
tinction is the chief argument of the advocates of protection, I 
sball submit at some length a few data and a selection from over 
forty recorded cases of exhaustion of oyster ground, illustrative of 
the fact that extermination is the inevitable result of excessive 
fishing in every part of the world. 

Whereas my sons shipped 1,546 barrels of shell oysters to Phil- 
adelphia three years ago, the season following they were only able 
to procure 881 barrels for New York and Philadelphia with nearly 
double the number of tongers. One other shipper and themselves 
sent about 20,000 gallons to the North last year, when the latter 
made bi-weekly shipments. This season they can only make 
weekly consignments, although they employ a much larger force, 
for want of oysters. Exclusive of a few beds near private land- 
ings, the raccoon oysters are already practically exterminated in 
Chatham and Bryan Counties. 

Local or general causes may influence seasonal variations in 
the quantity of spat attachment. Last year's freshets not only 
killed large numbers of oysters, but also either affected the well 
being of the remainder, so as to prevent them from putting forth 
the products of generation, or hindered the attachment of the spat. 
The large quantity of sedimentary matter always brought down 
in freshet water probably coated every object in our waters, which 
otherwise could have served as a spat collector. Certain it is that 
very few oysters of the spawning season of 1888 can be found in 
Chatham County, and consequently there will be a more than 
usual scarcity of large oysters two years hence. 

Thus has providence and improvidence combined towards a de- 
pletion of the oyster beds the past season. 



20 The American • Oyster. 



[From the Report of E. G. Blackford, Oyster Commissioner of New York for 1887.] 

1. "The natural growth beclsof Rhode Island and Connecticut are 
practically extinct, and even the great beds of Maryland and Vir- 
ginia are being rapidly exhausted. In fact, although in earlier 
times oysters were found in large quantities in the waters of New 
York and New England, the natural beds north of the Chesapeake 
are practically worthless, save as nurseries for seed. There is no 
doubt that the oyster interests of the State have suffered greatly. 
many of the natural beds have been entirely obliterated.'' 

[New York Report of 1885.] 

2. "As might be expected, this greedy and persistent working of 
the oyster territory has had a marked effect in diminishing the 
oyster areas, and in many places tracts that formerly were flour- 
ishing beds of native oysters have by this means been completely 
ravished of their inhabitants and have ceased to be beds." 

3. " The natural growth beds have been almost incessantly and 
unscrupulously drawn upon for their products, until now it is 
probably impossible to find a piece of natural-growth oyster ground 
within the limits of our State waters, which in productiveness, and 
especially in the size of the oysters, is not very much below what 
it was only a few years ago." 

[Report of Oyster Conirnissioners of Maryland, 1884.] 

4. " No one who is familiar with the history of the oyster beds 
of other parts of the world can be surprised at the deterioration of 
our own beds. Everywhere, in France, in England, in Germany, 
in Canada, history tells the same story. In all waters where 
oysters are found at all they are usually found in abundance, and 
in all these places the residents supposed that their natural beds 
were inexhaustible, until they suddenly found that they were ex- 
hausted. The immense area covered by our own beds has enabled 
them to withstand the attacks of the oystermen for a much longer 
time; but all who are familiar with the subject have long been 
aware that our present system can have only one result — exter- 
mination." 

5. "The improvidence of the people of the' United States in 
dealing with their oysters, so long as they were abundant, has 
been almost beyond belief." 

6. "It is impossible to state whether these beds occupy the 
place of the beds which were exterminated a century ago; but it is 
probable that most of the old beds were in shallow water. The 
bay must have contained oysters to furnish spat; and as no new 
beds have grown up in shallow water, we are forced to conclude 
that, even when spawn is present, a period of a hundred years is 
not enough to restore abed which has been completely destroyed." 

Favored Georgia ! A century is not enough to restore a bed on 
the most extensive and most excellent oyster territory on earth : 
and here thousands of new ones, forsooth, are forming every year. 

7. "Even if our natural beds could be restored and placed as 
they were twenty years ago, this would only delay for a few years 
their final exhaustion; for the demand is now far beyoncl the 
natural productive powers of our waters, and it is growing greater 
every day." 



The American Oyster. 21 



[Ernest Ingersoll's Oyster Industry of the United States, 1880.] 

8. " As the best stocked and most productive beds in Europe 
were quickly destroyed by unrestricted dredging, so may the 
hitherto seemingty exhaustless beds of the Chesapeake Bay be de- 
pleted, if the present rate of dredging is continued." 

As a matter of fact, the Oyster Commissioners of Maryland re- 
ported four years afterwards that during the preceding three years 
the natural beds of the State had been depleted at the rate of 3 1) 
per cent. 

[Report of E. G. Blackford, of New York, 1887.] 

9. " A good instance of this deterioration is found in the famous 
Saddle Bock beds (area 639 acres) near Great Neck, L. I. Years 
ago, this bed produced large quantities of marketable oysters of 
excellent quality. The record of my recent investigation of this 
bed shows: " Dredged seventy-five yards, found a roller skate, 
bottles, pasteboard, refuse, eight (8) large oysters and one peck of 
small seed. . 

[Lieut. Francis Winslow (IT. S. N.) Report on the Oysters of James River, Virginia, 
and of Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds.] 

10. " An estimation of the effect of excessive fishing may be 
formed by examining its results upon such beds in England and 
France as have records upon the subject. The most instructive 
of these are the records of the production of the beds of Cancale 
Bay, which extend over a period of sixty-eight years — from 1800 
to 1868. The beds in the bay comprise an area of about 150 acres, 
and from 1800 to 1816 produced from 400,000 to 2,400,000 a year. 
This, however, was the period of the Napoleonic wars, and the 
fishing was much disturbed by the presence of the English 
cruisers. During this time the beds became so thickly stocked 
that the oysters were in some places a yard thick. After the 
close of the war, the fishing improved, and the oysters were re- 
moved in larger and increasing numbers until 1843. From 1823 
to 1848, it is supposed that the dredgers were living upon the 
oysters accumulated during the period of in forced rest from 1800 
to 1816. In 1817 the number of oysters produced was 5,600,000, 
and until 1843 there was a constant increase, the number taken in 
the latter year being 70,000,000. In 1848 it was 60,000,000, thence 
forward there was a constant decrease. From 1850 to 1856 the 
decrease was from 50,000,000 to 18,000,000, supposed to be the 
effect of over-dredging. From 1859 to 1868 the decrease was from 
16,000,000 to 1,079,000, the oysters having almost entirely disap- 
peared from the beds. In 1870 there was a complete wreck of the 
bottom, which could only be remedied by a total prohibition of 
the fisheries for several years." 

12. " From the beds of the districts of Kochefort, Marrennes and 
Island of Oleron, on the west coast of France, there were taken in 
1853 to 1854 10,000,000 and in 1854-55 15,000,000. On account of 
exhaustive fishing, in 1863-64 only 400,000 could be obtained." 

13. " According to the testimony of Mr. Webber, Mayor of Fal 
mouth, England, about 700 men, working 300 boats were en- 
ployed in a profitable oyster fishery in the neighborhood of Fa 
mouth until 1866, when the old laws enforcing a ' close time ? we-' 



22 The American Oyster. 

repealed, under the impression that owing to the great productive 
powers of the oyster it would be impossible to remove a sufficient 
number to prevent the restocking of the beds. Since 1866 the 
beds have become so impoverished from excessive and continual 
fishing that in 1876 only forty men and forty boats could find 
employment; and small as the number is. they could not take 
more than 60 or 100 oysters a day, while forrnerty in the same 
time a boat could take from 10,000 to 12,000." 

14. " According to the statement of Mr. Messum, an oyster 
dealer and secretary of an oyster company at Emsworth, Eng- 
land, made before the commission for the investigation of oyster 
fisheries in May, 1876, there were in the harbor of Emsworth, 
between the years 1840 and 1850, so many oysters that one man 
in five (5) hours could take from 24,000 to 32,000. In consequence 
of overfishing, in 1858 scarcely ten vessels could find loads: and in 
1868 a dredger in five hours could not find more than twenty (20) 
oysters." 

15. " Ingersoll states that in the early days of our history it 
was not uncommon for a man to rake up a sleigh load of oysters 
through the ice in a single afternoon at Shediac, New Brunswick. 
Twenty-five or thirty years ago, these beds yielded 1,000 barrels a 
year; and in 1880 two (2) persons gained a scanty living upon 
them and obtained between them about 200 bushels a year." 

16. " In 1634 William Wood, in a work on New England, 
speaks of a great oyster bank in the Charles River, near Boston, 
and another in the Mj^stic River, each of such size as to obstruct 
navigation. The oysters were the long, slender ' coon oysters.' 
Of their size and form he says : ' They be great ones in form of a 
shoe horn ; some be a foot long. These breed on certain banks 
that are bare every spring tide. This fish, without shell, is so 
big that it must admit of a division before you can well get it into 
your mouth.' The oyster beds in these two rivers are spoken of 
by many of the early writers; but thej T are now gone so com- 
pletely that there is not a tradition to mark the place where in 
1634, according to Wood, 'the oyster bankes do barre out the 
bigger ships.' 

17. " In Mr. Coste's report for 1858 he states that out of twenty- 
three natural beds, which formerly constituted a great source of 
wealth, eighteen had been completely destroyed, while the remain- 
ing beds had been so impoverished that they no longer yielded 
enough oysters for planting. In another locality, where thirteen 
valuable beds formerly furnished employment for 200 vessels and 
1,400 men for six months in each year, and yielded an annual har- 
vest valued at $60,000 to .180,000, only three beds remained, and 
these were so depleted that twenty boats could in a few days carry 
away all the oysters. 

18. " On December 3, 1883, Lieut. Francis Winslow wrote: 'The 
oyster fishery of the State of Connecticut is one of the few in- 
stances of recuperation on record. I know of many destroyed 
oyster fisheries, and I know of a few that have been rebuilt; and I 
find one cause common to all failures, and as common to all suc- 
cesses. In the first instance, the fisheiy has been common prop- 
erty, its preservation everybody's business — that is. nobody's — and 
consequently, it has not been preserved. In the second instance, 
the fishery has been conducted and owned by persons singly or 



The American Oyster. 23 

together as private property; it has been this, that or the other 
man's business to see to its preservation, that is, its preservation 
has been somebody's business instead of nobody's, and conse- 
quently, it has been preserved.' " 

In 1870 Prof. Mobius, the celebrated German authority, pub- 
lished the following prophecy : 

"In North America the oysters are so fine and so cheap that 
they are eaten daily by all classes. Hence they are now, and 
have been for a long time, a real means of subsistence for the 
people. This enviable fact is no argument against the injurious 
effect of continuous and severe fishing. As the number of con- 
sumers increase in America, the price will also surety advance; and 
then there will arise a desire to fish the beds more severely than 
hitherto; and if they do not accept in time the unfortunate ex- 
perience of the oyster culturists of Europe, they will surely find 
their oyster beds impoverished through their own neglect." 

As yet I have heard no argument against the bill by any of its 
opponents. Such expressions by two of them, that "they want no 
oyster laws," and by another "that he is opposed to the bill, be- 
cause, if it became a law, it would make the oystermen too d — d 
independent," do not deserve consideration. 

I have been, however, personalty notified by a third, that if I 
attempted to interfere with his selling oysters in July and August, 
or with what is called "free trade in oysters," he intended to 
"kill" the bill. Now, oysters are still spawning during these 
months, and I certainly did not expect to encounter a being en- 
dowed by the Creator with a modicum of reasoning power, par- 
ticularly when he derives a livelihood from oysters, whose intelli- 
gence could be so consumed by greed, as to deny it were better 
to leave them Ijo emit their millions of ova in their native element 
than to have them digested in the stomachs of the people of 
Macon and Atlanta, who, deceived by the milk white appearance 
of the products of generation, swallow pregnant oysters for fat 
ones. As far as I have been able to learn, there does not exist a 
law for the protection of oysters of natural growth, which does 
not enact a "close time." In France, in England, in Canada, in 
Maine, in Massachusetts, in New York, in Virgiaia, in Delaware, 
in Maryland and in Texas, it ends September 1st. In Schleswig 
Holstein, Germany, in Maryland for dredging, it is October 1st. 
In New York it is September 1st and October 1st. In Ireland it 
is September 1st, October 1st and November 1st. In Rhode Is- 
land it is September 15th and November 1st, in New Jersej^ it is 
September 1st and October 1st, all in different localities, and in 
Thames River, Conn., it is November 1st. 

In their report for 1884, the Oyster Commissioners of Maryland 
recommend an extension of the close time to October 1st, and 
express the belief that it would be beneficial to prolong it to 
December 1st. • 

• There is not a single white or colored working oysterman in 
Georgia who does not approve the clause, and many of the deal- 
ers personally desire the close time to extend to October 1st or 
November 1st. My sons can never make a shipment before the 
middle of November, in consequence of the inferior quality of the 
oysters previous to that time. The first' this season was made 
November 28th. 



24 The American Oyster. 

The colonists having become alarmed at the diminution of the 
supply, the Legislature of New York passed the first 
oyster law ever enacted in America, as early as 1715. as fol- 
lows: "That from and after the publication of this Act it shall 
not be lawful for any person or persons whatsoever (native free 
Indians only excepted) from and after the first day of May, until 
the first day of September, annually, to gather, rake, take up or 
bring to the market, any oysters whatsoever, under the penalty of 
twenty shillings for every offence, to be recovered before any of 
His Majesty's Justices of the Peace, who are hereby authorized 
and required to hear and finally^determine the same: one-half 
thereof to him, her or them, that shall bring the same to effect, 
and the other half to the poor of the place where the offence shall 
be committed. 

"And * * * That it shall not be lawful for any Negro, Indian 
or Mulatto slave to sell any oysters in the city of New York at 
any time whatsoever, upou the penalty of twenty shillings for 
every offence, to be paid by the master or mistress of such slave or 
slaves,' to be recovered and applied as aforesaid. This Act to be 
[in] force from the publication hereof, during the term of five 
years, and no longer." 

Four years later (1719) the colony of New Jersey found it 
necessary to enact a similar law. 

" AVhereas, It is found by daily experience that the oyster beds 
within this Province are wasted and destroyed by strangers and 
others at unseasonable times of the year, the preservation of which 
will tend to the great benefit of the poor people and others inhab- 
iting this Province, Be it, therefore, enacted," &c, &c. It also 
provided a close time to September 1st. 

The New York law of 1715 was limited in its effect to five years. 
During the ten years succeeding the date of its expiration the 
same license prevailed in New York that still exists in Georgia 
to-day, and then came the protective law of 1730. The colonial 
records contain a note in connection with this law, explaining its 
necessity, as follows : 

"There was an Act of this kind passed in this Province, during 
the continuance whereof the oysters encreased to that degree that 
the city of New York was constantlv supplied in the proper season 
at easie rates; but since the expiration of it, the people being under 
no restraint, the banks are almost destroyed. To preserve what 
is left, and to procure an increase, is the design of this Act, which 
will be greatly to the advantage of this city, if it be duly observed." 

We have here, ladies and gentlemen, an ancient declaration of 
the necessity, and historical testimony of the efficacy of a law 
which is vastly more essential for Georgia now, since steam trans- 
portation has so greatly increased the demand. 

Is it preposterous — am I too progressive in asking the Georgia 
Legislature to enact a law in this age of advancing civilization 
which two Northern Provinces had the wisdom, with less exigency, 
to pass in the first year of the reign of our King George I. 1 74 
years ago, or 61 years before the Declaration of Independence? 

But there is another atrocity in this greed for trade in oysters. 
Unless in the spawning state, they are so watery in July and 
August that it requires two and a half bushels, or more, to open a 
gallon, whereas later one bushel will yield a gallon of opened 



/ 



The American Oyster. 25 

oysters; yet the dealer pays to the poor oysterinan, who has to 
tong two and a half fold the quantity, and to his wife, who has to 
open them, the same price per gallon, and they are without 
remedy. Furthermore, there is the loss of one and a half bushels 
of food material! 

While it can only concern the oyster gatherers themselves, (and 
they generally appreciate its necessity), I gather from the published 
interviews that one of the opponents objects to the culling clause. 
The Oyster Commissioners of Maryland attribute the depletion of 
their beds principally to violations of their culling laws. Such a 
provision is contained in every law in the United States for the 
protection of oysters of natural growth, where oyster planting and 
oyster farming are not extensively carried on. The operation 
of culling consists in separating all the oysters the tonger wishes 
to use from those too small for marketable purposes, from the 
dead shells, and from any other refuse brought up by the tongs. 
Sometimes the shells are covered with young oysters a few months 
old. The proper manner is to return at once these young oysters 
and shells to the beds whence they had been taken, instead of 
carrying them off, as at present, to be lost and destroyed; and the 
culling clause provides for this. The penalty for a violation of the 
culling law in Maryland is a fine of $300, or imprisonment for 
three years. It has been shown that a bed is on its way to 
extermination, unless there remain upon it at the rate of fifteen 
young to ten mature oysters. It is, of course, doomed, when the 
bivalves of every stage, and even the shells, which are our sole spat 
collectors, are removed. The undisturbed accumulations of cen- 
turies have elevated these beds above the general level of the bot- 
tom, otherwise the shells upon them would become so coated 
with mud as to unfit them for spat attachment. In consequence 
of the fact that the least deposit takes place upon elevations', the 
French claires, or artificial breeding ponds, are elevated in the 
middle for the deposit of the oysters, and are provided with mar- 
ginal ditches in which alone the sediment accumulates. It is 
evident that, when these elevations in our waters have been 
reduced by the continued removal of the shells, the deposit of mud 
will be general and our beds be obliterated. 

The reports of the Oyster Commission of Maryland for 1880 and 
1884 contain the following references to the importance of culling 
on. the beds : " The reasons for the small number of young oysters 
we believe to be, in part, the scarcity of mature oysters to furnish 
spawn, in part to the wanton destruction of great numbers of very 
young oysters through the violation of culling laws, and in part 
the absence of enough clean shells on the beds to furnish attach- 
ment for the spat. The destruction of young oysters at the pack- 
ing houses is trifling, however, compared with that which results 
from violations of the culling laws." 

" When we recollect how important it is that the young oysters 
should soon find solid bodies to fasten themselves to, it will be 
seen that the danger of exterminating a valuable bed by over- 
dredging would be much less, if the empty shells were replaced 
upon the beds." 

Man has long passed that stage of his existence, when he had to 
rely upon the uncultivated products of the field, and of the forest, 
for food; and now he has learnt how to increase his means of 



26 The American Oyster. 

subsistence by developing the productiveness of land under water 
to tbe deptb of forty feet or more; otber States having shown us to 
what astonishing extent the food supply may be augmented by 
cultivating this heretofore barren territory. It is well known that 
there is a connection between the number of marriages and births 
and the price of corn; that prosperity and population depend 
upon the fertility of the soil. The average width of land subject 
to the fertilizing effects of the inundations of the Mle was only 52 
miles; but its productiveness was so great that Herodotus intorms 
us, Egypt contained twenty thousand cities in the reign of Amasis. 
Open up our submerged territory to the operation of personal 
effort, or private enterprise, and it can be made capable of excel- 
ling the productiveness of the Nile valley, and that of the oyster 
grounds of Rhode Island or Connecticut; simply for the reason 
of the greater propitiousness of our climate, and because our 
oysters enjoy a superior immunity from predatory enemies; and 
the lease clause was framed with that object chiefly in view. If 
the most fertile agricultural domain on the globe were turned over 
to public gleaning, like the oyster grounds, what would be the 
chances for progressive or intensive farming ? Witness the felling 
of noble pecan trees in Texas, the growth perhaps of a eentmy. 
the more conveniently to obtain a single and final crop of nuts, 
as a case parallel to the atrociously improvident use of our oyster 
beds. I submit a bunch of oysters, taken from a pile that were 
being opened. Of the forty-four of which it consists, about ten 
are large enough to be marketable, and thirty-four would bave 
been cast aside to die and to be lost. Large numbers are daily 
destroyed in this manner. Sometimes entire bunches are thus 
thrown upon the shell heap. 

In making the distinction between the conditions of the three 
kingdoms of nature, Linnaeus said: "A stone grows, plants grow 
and live, animals grow, live and feel." Though of a low order, 
these are God's animated creatures, and their wanton waste is 
morally and economically nothing less than sinful. Now, if every 
oysterman could have, his own private, protected, oyster ground, 
these rejected small oysters might be planted and saved to life, to 
profit and to future usefulness. 

In reference to this loss of small oysters, the report of the Oyster 
Commission of Maryland, of 1884, says in the chapter "on the 
means Avhich are necessary to arrest the destruction of our natural 
beds": "One explanation which has been urged to account for the 
destruction of our oyster beds, is the wanton destruction of young 
oysters. Upon the piles of shells which are thrown out from the 
packing houses, great numbers of young shells can often be found. 
They are of course dead, and as they are too small to be of 
any use, their destruction is a clear loss to our people." "This 
difficulty will disappear with the growth of the planting indus- 
try: for small oysters will then be valuable as seed, and they 
will pass into the hands of the planters, instead of going to the 
packing houses." "The true remedy, therefore, is the encour- 
agement of planting." "The question arises, whether the destruc- 
tion, by the packers, of immature oysters should not be prohibited 
by law, and your commissioners, therefore, recommend that if any 
dealer in oysters for food shall have in his possession any oysters 
so small that a bushel measure will contain more than 300, he 
shall be liable to a fine of 81 for each bushel." 



The American Oyster. 27 

The oyster law now in force in Georgia gives every property 
owner on the salts the privilege to plant oj T sters opposite his tax- 
able land to the distance of 500 yards and 120 feet beyond low 
water mark, and the proprietorship of all the oysters in any creek 
running up into his land not over 120 feet wide at its mouth. 
Very few land owners have a frontage of 500 yards fit for oyster 
planting. In many cases the wash of sand from the taxable land 
either renders the bottom unsuitable, or even. destroys the oysters 
that may have previously existed. As a matter of fact, the most 
extensive sea island property owner of the State for this reason 
can not avail himself of the privilege. Under these provisions of 
the law I am already entitled to the riparian rights of my entire 
frontage, it being less than 500 yards, and to the oysters in a creek 
admirably adapted to the purposes of oyster culture to the distance 
of 2 } miles, and no new legislation can increase my oyster privi- 
leges as an owner of taxable land. My esteemed friend, your 
first vice-president, Col. Screven, is an island neighbor, our lands 
adjoining, and knows these to be facts. The development of the 
oyster industry will of course increase the value of real estate on 
tide water and, with a sicgle exception, I hold the signature of 
approval of my bill of every such land owner, to whom I had ap- 
plied, and he only hesitated, because at that time he desired to 
secure greater privileges than my bill provided for. 

It very fortunately so happens for the position I have taken in 
this matter that I own under the present law more oyster ground 
than any other man in Chatham County, hence, if every public 
bed in our waters were obliterated, my sons would be able to com- 
mand comparatively the largest supply. 

As population increases, does it not become the duty of every 
man, when possible, to protect and save the sources of food ? There- 
fore, when the problem is presented to the legislator, the question 
arises : How will he best increase his popularity and advance his 
political aspirations, by arraying himself on the side of those who 
would save an important source for the welfare of the multitude, or 
by supporting those who would ruthlessly destroy it, to satisfy 
present personal greed? 

But I am informed, it is difficult to effect the passage of any 
bill in the Georgia- Legislature, if its supporters have to "butt 1 ' 
against any opposition. What legislative, or other reform, has 
ever been achieved, without having had to encounter, and to van- 
quish, opposition? What chances would there have been for the 
reformation itself, if my ancestors' kinsman, Martin Luther, had 
refrained from "butting" against the mighty power that had 
burnt his predecessor at the stake ? But is it not a serious reflec- 
tion upon the intelligence of the Legislature, to believe it possible 
that a bill so plainly promotive of the public welfare could be de- 
feated by an opposition born of the greed of a few opponents, who 
lack the intelligence to appreciate the fact that a protected and 
developed industry must necessarily inure to their own ultimate 
benefit ? 

I have only learnt within a day or two what amount the little 
State of Bhode Island will derive this year from the rents of her 
comparatively limited oyster territory. The wise legislative en- 
couragement of private enterprise in oyster farming has developed 
the industry to such an extent and advanced the prosperity of her 



28 The American Oystek. 

oystermen so greatly, that the revenue contributed by them has 
increased from $61 to over $11,000, which is 180 fold, or at the 
rate of over 18,033 per cent. 

The same results will follow the same means, under the appli- 
cation of equal intelligence; and my object is simply to open the 
path for similar benefits to the community, and for as great, or 
greater, prosperity to our oystermen, in proportion to their super- 
ior advantages. 

The question, who is most entitled to countenance and support, 
he that is laboring for this consummation, or they who would 
frustrate it, I confidently refer to the intelligence of yourselves and 
of my fellow-citizens generally. 



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